


Family Bonding

by carolinagirl178, Pink_Strawberries



Category: Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Camille & Magnus used to date, Camille is desperate, Camille wants Magnus back, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Heline, Jem & Emma are siblings, Lightwood-centric (mostly), Lydia & Aline are soon-to-be stepsisters, M/M, Magnus doesn't, Malec, Multi, Romance, Sizzy - Freeform, Trip to Europe, clace, jemma - Freeform, the Lightwoods need help
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 04:10:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6408211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinagirl178/pseuds/carolinagirl178, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_Strawberries/pseuds/Pink_Strawberries
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meet the Lightwoods: Alec, the overprotective older brother who just finished his first year of college and has yet to come out to his parents; Jace, the selfish but good-hearted adopted brother who has yet to feel anything more than lust for any girl; Isabelle, the little sister who would do anything for her brothers and feels too much for too many people; Max, the little brother who just wants everyone to get along like they used to; Maryse, the mother who knows more than she lets on and wants her kids to be happy; Robert, the uptight father with secrets he has buried underground that he refuses to let resurface.</p><p>Now, Jace is preparing go to NYU to start his college years, leaving Izzy, Max, and their parents behind, just like Alec, and just like Izzy will do the next year. But Max doesn't want him to leave, like Alec did. He remembers when his 3 siblings were inseparable. But something happened between them to strain their relationships. Izzy's been mad at Alec, who hasn't talked to her in months. Jace and Izzy always seem to want to kill each other. He doesn't even know what happened between Jace and Alec, but something's different. Everything's changing.</p><p>So, Maryse decides it's time for some family bonding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Bonding

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, I've decided to start writing this while I still had the idea in my head. I hope you like it!

Alec Lightwood was in his room, trying to pack for the trip his mother had planned for the summer. All he knew about it was that it was in Europe and it was supposed to last for most of the summer. He didn’t know why they had to do this in the first place. He could understand the whole “family bonding” thing, but no matter how he pictured this trip, it was not going to end well.

Through the walls, he could hear his sister Isabelle yelling at Jace for something he did. He wondered what Jace had done this time, but he decided it would be best if he didn’t get involved. He used to get involved, though, without any hesitation. Every time Jace and Isabelle used to get into an argument like this, Alec would immediately be there to break it up. However, since that one fight between the two, Alec realized that he couldn’t always break it up successfully. He had taken Izzy’s side, and Jace was furious about it. He wasn’t that mad at Alec, but it did make him ever madder at their sister. Since then, their fights had just gotten worse and more frequent, and Alec found that it was much harder to calm them down. Then he went off to college, and he was no longer there to break up their arguments. Now, he felt that it was just easier for everyone if he didn’t even try.

“This isn’t funny, Jace! You embarrassed me! You knew how I felt about him!” Isabelle shouted.

“Yeah, that’s why I did it. Come on, Izzy. We both know you were just going to hurt him anyways. Now I’ve saved you the trouble. You’re welcome.” Alec sighed, knowing Jace probably just crossed the line in saying that. It was most likely true, but he really shouldn’t have said it.

Isabelle laughed darkly. “You just wait, Jace. You’ll regret what you did. Eventually.” With that, Alec heard two doors slam closed, and he knew that was the end of the argument. For now.

Yep, this was definitely not going to end well.

 

**_______________**

 

“Isabelle, I told you, you’re not going to need all of those electronics. We’re not allowed to use them most of the time,” their mother said, her voice stern.

“Yeah, _most_ of the time. I’ll use them when we _can_ use electronics. Trust me, Mom. I need these,” Isabelle responded, not leaving much room for their mother to argue. She was going to be a lawyer one day, and Alec knew she would be a great one. She was always finding the loopholes.

“Alright. Is everybody ready to go?” Mom asked us. She looked around at everyone expectantly: Isabelle typing away on her phone, Jace glaring at the ground, Max playing with his suitcase, Robert watching Max cautiously, before locking eyes with Alec, who gave her a small nod, earning him a small smile in return. “Great. Then let’s get going.” With that, she picked up her suitcase and left the house, Dad following behind her.

Alec stood where he was for a moment with his siblings, all avoiding each other’s eyes. Finally, Jace sighed and followed after his adopted parents, dragging his bags behind him.

Alec turned towards Isabelle. “Would you like some help?” He gestured to her bags.

“I’m fine,” she replied harshly, turning to follow after Jace.

Alec watched her leave and sighed. She had been like this ever since he got back from college. What had he done to make her so mad at him? He honestly had no idea.

Alec was ripped from his thoughts when he felt a small hand pull on his own. He looked down to see Max smiling shyly up at him. “Could I have some help?”

“Of course,” Alec smiled, which made Max’s smile grow bigger. Alec then grabbed the remaining bags and left the house with Max trailing behind him. He put the suitcases in the back of the van and sat in his seat next to Jace, making sure to leave some space between them. He and Jace used to like sitting next to each other, back when they were kids, but lately, it’s just been really awkward.

In front of him was Max who was sitting next to Isabelle. Isabelle was helping Max get settled in, despite Max’s complaints that he could do it on his own (“I’m 10 now, Izzy. I can buckle myself up”). Alec chuckled to himself. He was definitely a Lightwood.

The ride to the airport was a little chaotic. In the front, Mom and Dad were arguing over which route they should take (which was normal for them, they argue over most things). In the middle, Max was playing a game on Mom’s phone with the volume turned up (no one had the heart to make him turn it down), and Izzy kept yelling at Jace, who was repeatedly messing with her seat because he “didn’t have enough room back here.” And to top all that off, the radio and air conditioning were on. Alec was already getting a really bad headache, and they hadn’t even started the vacation yet.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He wondered why they had to do this when it so obviously wasn’t going to work. Isabelle and Jace can’t even ride in a car together without threatening to bite each other’s faces off. How were they supposed to make it through an entire summer, especially with Isabelle now being mad at Alec for some reason that he himself is not aware of?

Suddenly, Alec felt a light tap on his shoulder. His eyes snapped open as he turned towards Jace, who was looking at him with a questioning expression. _Are you okay?_ He mouthed to Alec, knowing there was no point in making a scene.

Honestly, if things had been different between Jace and Alec, if they had never gotten in that stupid argument and Alec had never asked that stupid question, Alec probably would have told him the truth, that he was not okay. That he hasn’t been in years, since their family started falling apart. But the truth was, it was not a stupid argument, and it certainly wasn’t a stupid question. At least, not to Alec. It was a reasonable question that Jace chose not to answer, which all but confirmed that Alec was right about his answer. He just wished Jace would’ve actually admitted it.

Alec nodded, giving Jace a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. This seemed to satisfy Jace as he returned the smile and got back to bothering his sister. Alec rolled his eyes at Jace (why was he always so immature?). He immediately regretted it, however, having forgotten about his headache. He sighed once more, turning to stare out the window while wishing he was anywhere else.

 

**_______________**

 

Eventually, the Lightwoods made it through security and boarded their plane, which was leaving in 5 minutes. Normally, they had first class tickets; however, this time (much to Isabelle’s dismay), Mom decided it would be best if they flew in coach. The plane had 3 seats per row, so Max sat between Mom and Dad while Alec was forced to sit between Jace and Isabelle.

Once the plane took off and it was safe to use electronics, Isabelle and Jace started watching some movie on their laptops. Since Alec didn’t watch tv very often, he decided to just sit back, listen to his music, and read. Contrary to most people, Alec much preferred reading over television. Most people didn’t understand it, but his best friend Lily Chen did. The two of them had many things in common, which was probably why they got along so well.

Alec once again started to wonder how this vacation was supposed to help them. He knew what was wrong with him and Jace, and he knew that it wasn’t going to be resolved until Jace finally answered the question, though Alec’s not sure whether or not that will end up fixing them or just tear them even further apart. He knows what’s wrong with Jace and Isabelle, but he highly doubts they’re going to be making up any time soon, especially with all of their arguing. He knows that Isabelle is really mad at him for some reason, and he also knows that when she’s mad at him, she doesn’t talk to him about it unless he makes the first move. But how can he make the first move when he doesn’t even know why she’s mad at him? And then there was Max, who got along well with all of them. Max, who was too young to really understand why the others didn’t get along anymore. Max, who just wanted his family to go back to the way it was before, when they actually acted like a family.

Alec sighed. This was going to be a long summer.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Updates will probably be very slow and sporadic, but I will try to get it finished when I can.


End file.
